El Incidente : a PBEM AAR

[TheVulture]

I have decided to continue cluttering up the forums with my AAR spam. Apologies to those who are sick of this. But you don't have to read it, you know.

Having been thoroughly spanked by Stoex in our previous PBEM, our quest for a balanced blue vs red PBEM continues. El Incidente by Alfalfa had been suggested as a fairly balanced battle, so we decided to give it a go.

Starting it up, and finding an English translation of the breifing, I come to the map.

This map is evil.

Map Analysis

It is a relatively open long valley, but with plenty of variations in elevation providing cover and unpredictable lines of sight. There is also a great deal of scattered vegetation of the kind that leaves vehicles and moving infantry pretty visible, but allows infantry to duck into cover and break line of sight quite easily. But vehicles will be fairly slow moving through the vegetation. On my side of the map, close to the middle, are two small outcrops that could make a nice base of fire, and most of the area from my start position up to there is reasonably covered.

Here are view of the map from the north and south corners of my end of the map to give a flavour of it. It is 1000m long by 480m wide, so is relatively small.

The Syrian end of the map also has a decent covered zone which extends into the western edge of the hamlet. The covered zone is provided primarily by a small wooded hillock which incidentally will provide a nice place to site an ATGM or two with good views of potential targets (i.e. my vehicles). The Syrian end is slightly more open on average, but does extend into the start of the houses, which are cover the enemy side of the map. The most obvious strategy for the red side is to set up overwatch (particularly AT assets) on the hills on the north and south side and the hillock, and advance along the road through the village with BMPs supporting the infantry from keyhole positions. But the terrain is complex enough that there are plenty of other viable options.

Start zones are pretty narrow, although mine does extend along the southern edge a fair distance. The briefing map suggests that I am oriented more in the south (due to this edge) while the Syrians are oriented more in the north, presumably in some kind of mirror-image of my setup zone. The yellow lines indicate where some of the possibly significant hills / ridges are located.

[TheVulture]

Setup

After a long time studying the map I reckon I can get vehicles to the outctrops in relative safety. They will be exposed to a ridge which the Syrians can reach with relative impunity, but since I can use roads while they are off-roading through scrub, I expect I can get my Strykers there and dismount the infantry before anything turns into a great big ball of fire.

My force is simply an army recon company. I have 3 platoons, each consisting of a 1 man HQ and 3x 5 man teams. Each team has a dedicated AT specialist and one special weapon; an M203 UGL or an MMG. Two platoons each have 2 MMGs and 1 UGL, while the third has 1 MMG and 2 UGL, making 4 of each weapon in the company. Then there is a company HQ and company XO team, and a mortar observer with 81mm mortar battery that doesn't have much ammo.

Since this is a recon company, everyone is in Strykers - 15 vehicles in total, roughly evenly split between 12.7mm MG and 30mm Mk19 variants, with one fire support vehicle. Naturally, being army Strykers, they have more javelins than they could possibly hope to use. Weighing the pros and cons of the extra encumbrance, I decide to load every squad down with a CLU and 3 missiles. Given the nature of the map, I expect a lot of vehicles to go up in smoke fairly quickly, so I'd rather have men encumbered by humping the missiles around than leave them in burning vehicles. Plus on the assumption that the enemy will be equally BMP-2 heavy, I'm going to need a lot of anti-armour assets; Strykers don't match up well against BMP-2s. A Mk19 Stryker can disable a BMP-2, or kill the crew, reasonably quickly if it can hit accurately, but a BMP autocannon can make just as much a mess of a Stryker, and has ATGMs to boot which have a very high kill chance. The MG-armed Strykers are basically outclassed. They can get lucky and disable important systems or kill the gunner of a BMP, but it's not something you can rely on, more of an occasional bit of luck that saves you from a bad situation.

The entire company has fewer dismounts than a marine platoon, but makes up for it with integral MMGs, more javelins than infantry (and probably more than mortar rounds), and a lot of vehicles. But 5 man squads are going to be fairly fragile, as are the Strykers, so every casualty will count.

My plan of action, about which I am very unsure is as follows. I want to seize the outcrops since they might form a decent base of fire (albeit a fairly obvious one that would be suicide if my opponent had mortars). Area fire against men there will be quite nasty, but I'm hoping for a rain of javelins to limit the effects of that. So one platoon (with 2 MMGs) is going to drive quickly along the dirt road to the sheltered area behind those and disebark to occupy that area. The mortar FO is going to join them since the position has good lines of sight.

The second platoon with 2 MMGs is going to occupy the densely wooded ridge north from that outcrop to the hamlet on my side of the map, including sending a unit into the village to hit the touch objectives. The company HQ will bag the nearest objective on foot on the way to join them.

The red line shows roughly the area the Strykers will be exposed to on their approach form the woods to the base of the outcrop, and the blue line shows the exposed area when they reach the relative safety of the outcrop.

My third platoon is going to dismount and take up an advanced position on the southern flank. Their broad aim is to maneouver through the scrub towards the center of the map. In the first instance though they will provide javelin overwatch against the north side of the map whilst the two mounted platoons drive like crazy. The 3rd platoon vehicles will lurk back in cover, ready to come out to provide anti-infantry fire once the BMP threat has been reduced.

Since the main mounted advance up the center is exposed to the southern hills (although the enemy are unlikely to start on those hills, so I have time to get up quickly), my company XO squad has grabbed a javelin CLU and some missiles (as has everyone else and their grandma) and set up in the northern corner with a view over the approach to those southern hills. If anything does turn up to threaten the advancing Strykers, it will be exposed to javelin fire. It won't be enough to stop a major force there - javelins aren't known for their high rate of fire - but it might tip the balance and give Stoex pause for thought before continuing to advance in that sector. I park a Stryker in the trees nearby where it will hopefully be hidden that can be used to restock on javelin missiles.

[Mike Churchmoor]

I have decided to continue cluttering up the forums with my AAR spam...

Keep the spam coming! Very nicely done AAR. Can't wait to see how your opponent deals with the Javelins.

[hoolaman]

Cool, looking forward to this one. I played this scenario PBEM against our colleague MeatEtr playing the US, and it was one of the more fun and balanced battles I've played.

Of course I lost (yes I lost as US vs Syrian), just like I have lost pretty much every CMSF game I play, so I'm looking forward to see how you go.

My take on the map is that the big rocky hill split my forces and made it hard for them to mutually support each other, but I won't give away any more for your readers.

[snake_eye]

HI, TheVulture,

Your AAR spam is must welcome. I haven't played the Incidente and I am already curious to see how you will managing your strykers along that road and fields which are surely already registered for mortar and or artillery fire plan. It looks like the ways to get forward are rather funnelled into kill zones being setup by the enemy, ready for your Recon company

Cheers

[MeatEtr]

Ahh yes, El Incidente, it was a glorious battle with Hoolaman. Losses were heavy on both sides, but I pulled off the win as the Syrians. So reading this AAR from the Blue side will be interesting.

A few key things Red needs to do, but I'll hold comments for your readers. Thanks for posting.

[TheVulture]

HI, TheVulture,

Your AAR spam is must welcome. I haven't played the Incidente and I am already curious to see how you will managing your strykers along that road and fields which are surely already registered for mortar and or artillery fire plan. It looks like the ways to get forward are rather funnelled into kill zones being setup by the enemy, ready for your Recon company

Cheers

It is a meeting engagement, so its not like my opponent has much chance to set up kill zones. His room for maneouver isn't any better than mine.

[TheVulture]

Turn 1 Action

I'm terrified about how this is going to go. The map is very complex, and contains a large number of terrain features that may be important depending on how things turn out. But the importance of almost everything is highly situational. Conversely, I can't wait to see what Stoex is doing and react accordingly since there is a fairly short time limit (25 minutes) and letting him take the initiative on this map would be to give him a solid advantage. So its all something of a gamble.

The opening action immediately shows that I have made one miscalculation. I thought that the road in the middle of my starting area would be a secure zone, since it was in a dip and behind many trees. But it turns out that there is indeed a position on the enemy side of the map that has LoS to at least some of the area.

A BMP-2 quickly spots my massed Strykers and opens fire, rather accurately. In a stroke of luck, despite all rounds being on target, no damage at all is caused to the target vehicle, which promptly pops smoke. The rest of the packed vehicles move out in staggered order. The first platoon, heading for the outcrop, proceeds to form a traffic jam as the 1st vehicle has to stop and pivot. This causes a knock-on effect with each successive vehicle having a slightly longer delay navigating onto the dirt road.

The one of the 3rd platoon squads in the south is meant to be covering that sector of hills with javelin capability, and indeed, the firing of the BMP draws the attention of the infantry.

Yeah baby, one cheap BMP kill. I watch the missile climb to its cruise height, scoot along towards the target, and then...

... continue cruising right past the target. Lost target or a malfunction of some kind. On the plus side, I doubt that Stoex ever noticed it. The BMP, happily ignorant of its close call, loses sight of its target in the smoke. But it soon spots the resupply Stryker that is parked near the XO team in the north, and opens fire on that. Again, very accurate gunnery puts every round on target (give or take a tree in the way). And again, no damage at all is caused, and the Stryker pops smoke. A second BMP is lurking just behind the first one, but this doesn't appear to have LoS to anything, and does nothing.

The XO squad lurking nearby catches sight briefly of a BTR-60PB advancing in the south, but it is gone long before they have a chance to fire, much as expected in that area. I'm happy with the XO just providing intel, any actual kills it provide this early are a bonus.

Turn 2 Plan

I'm quite happy if it turns out that my central Strykers will only face BTRs in the south; I'm quite confident of their ability to come out on top in that confrontation. The threat will be that they hide behind the ridge and drop off ATGM teams which sneak over the ridge an lay waste to my Strkers. With luck vehicle smoke and mortars should combine to eliminate that threat.

But the plan is basically unchanged; 1st and 2nd platoons seek to control the center, 3rd platoon will leapfrog in the south to keep javelins available against the northen hills. The resupply Stryker is going to shift to a different position that will hopefully provide better cover for it, still near enough the XO to make its javelins available. This move might not strictly be necessary, since that BMP will ideally be toasted soon enough, and for now it is safe in its smoke, but I'd rather try to get it somewhere where it can be hidden long-term.

Here's the overhead shot at the end of the turn. Not much to see really. 2 BMPs sighting in the north, 1 BTR in the south. My guys moving as planned, with slight delays.

[TheVulture]

Turn 2 Action

3rd platoon have better success this turn. One squad target the BMP on the northern hill again, and this time the javelin works correctly. The lead BMP is smoked, and the two crew are seen bailing out. The second BMP has apparently spotted a moving Stryker.

The missile slews around widly before hitting the ground a long way from anything. I'm not even sure what it was aiming it to be honest. While letting them get a second shot off might have told me, they are sadly destroyed by another javelin launched by 3rd platoon. No-one is seen leaving the vehicle.

3rd platoon also spot some movement just short of the (mostly) central houses, where a BMP disembarks a recon squad.

The disgorged infantry head off to the right (northwest), and the BMP also turns in that direction before it is lost from sight. I'd not thought that the Syrian's could get so far forward in vehicles under cover, but it about matches where my men can get to at the outcrop, and doesn't really affect anything yet; I'd more or less assumed that the Syrians would gain the central houses fairly early on, and there not being much I could do about it.

My own movements are uninterrupted this turn. 3rd platoons bounding advance has covered ground whilst bagging two BMPs and providing intel. 1st platoon reach the relative cover of the outcrop, dismount, and are in the process of forming up into a working fire base. 2nd platoon are slightly delayed by the traffic jam, but are also just disembarking from their vehicles to gain the ridge. One squad reaches the few houses in the northwest of the map and gains my second touch objective, and will be able to grab the third (just across the street) next turn.

Next, the end of turn map:

The empty read diamond in the north shows the location of the destroyed BMPs. In the center is the briefly sighted BMP recon squad, in the south the BTR. US troops are two platoons in the center; in the south is the dismounted 3rd platoon with thr 3rd platoon vehciles in the SW corner. In the NW corner is the company XO playing the role of javelin overwatch.

Turn 3 Plan

The northern BMPs weren't advancing at all, and presumably were just hoping to bag some vehicles as I left the start zone. So I've been quite fortunate to have come out of this for no loss (aside from using 3 javelins) while Stoex is down 2 BMPs.

I'd have to chalk that up as a gambit on his part that didn't pay off. I doubt there will be any further movement on the northen hill; it is far too exposed to javelins as has already been seen. Hopefully Stoex will be unaware of just where the launches came from, and not know that his advance in the center has been seen (and that he was mildly lucky not to lose a fully loaded BMP there). My best guess for now is that his basic plan is to advance up the middle - he can reach the houses as I've already seen - with overwatch from the eastern hill identified earlier and from the southern hills that are mostly out of LoS. There might be a screening force protecting / cautiously advancing there along the route the BTR was seen on.

The next few turns should show a lot more about the shape this fight will take.

My 1st platoon are just taking up their positions on the outcrop. The 2 MMG squads are taking the high ground and deploying there; javelins to take out vehicles, MMGs to suppress infantry. The UGL squad is guarding the corner that is the blind spot from the outcrop (although 3rd platoon are covering that area). They are both providing security and getting into position to provide support for 3rd platoon's advance towards objective E.

2nd platoon are just beginning to deploy from their vehicles to the ridge. This is to some extent my reserve, although given my limited numbers (and the high lethality of the forces here) I'm not willing to leave them sitting in vehicles ready to charge to the rescue. So they will screen the northen side, whilst maintaining a position on the wooded ridge where they can break contact, rejoin their vehicles and move elsewhere with relative ease (which may turn out to be 'with great difficulty' of course).

Smoke and trees removed so that you can actually see something.

[TheVulture]

Turn 3 Action

Quite a lot more movement seen this turn. Firstly, a second BMP is seen negotiating a path through the trees where the other one was briefly sighted dismounting troops last turn. The trees slow it up enough that it stays in view long enough for one of the javelin gunners to get a shot off.

The crew once again survive and are seen running for cover. No sign of any passengers; none in there, or all killed. Most likely the former. The first BMP is sighted again, briefly. Apparently it is waiting in position, assuming it is safe since it hasn't yet been nuked. And so far it seems to be right, since I haven't yet spotted it for long enough to launch a javelin.

Several infantry units are seen heading towards the central village from the location of these BMPs.

At various points, an RPG team, a recon platoon HQ, and a recon squad come over the crest of a hill and vanish behind the buildings. It seems fair to say that Stoex will establish a platoon in that block of buildings without too much trouble. Quite a lot more movement is seen elsewhere on the map, at various points further back. A recon squad is seen entering a far back building, and two HQs are moving near some of the fields towards the back; one a recon HQ, the other unknown. Yet another recon squad is seen advancing in the north through the scrub on foot. What isn't spotted however is the source of the incoming fire on 3rd platoon overwatching javelin team.

A lot of small explosions scattered around the place, with no firing unit spotted. One man is killed by a direct hit, and another man next to him is slightly wounded. This is almost certainly an AGS-17 grenade launcher, as warned about in the briefing. It's at long enough range that it remains unspotted, but the corollary is that the range is long enough that its accuracy isn't great.

The MMG furthest forwards on the outcrop fires off some rounds at the distant HQ units milling in the rear. I doubt this has caused any damage, but has given away their position. I expect incoming AGS rounds fairly soon.

Turn 4 Plan

The first job is to get team under fire into relative safety. Fortunately they are only just over a small ridge, and so I order them back behind it. That ought to be enough to break LoS, although with the relatively indirect fire grenade launcher they might still be somewhat exposed. Since I also expect incoming on the outcrop, I send the team that fired the MMG back down to the position of the flanking squad, and send them forward to the objective house that is about 95m away.

While the ground is fairly open, I figure it ought to be be safe since the bulk of the Syrian weaponry that might hurt them is obscured by trees and houses. But this is a slightly uneasy decision. Partly I'm ordered it because I am uneasy at the speed with which the enemy are moving forward and taking their objectives in their half. This, of course, is slightly daft reasoning. It doesn't matter when you get an objective, only whether you do or not. If I win the actual fighting, I'll be able to take the objective and others at leisure. If I lose, Stoex will get this far forward regardless. Taking risks to get objectives at this early stage is counter-productive. But it is psychology at work. Having seen 8 new units this turn in a variety of places, and having incoming AGS fire from unspotted units, it is very hard to have faith in leaving a plan unchanged. So I've given in to temptation and will probable regret it.

Other moves are sending one of the MG Stykers behind the outcrop into position to cover the area the northern Syrian team are moving towards. I've moved one of 3rd platoon's hidden Mk19 Strykers up to do a similar job using trees for cover, although that is far less reliable. But right at the back of the map, it should be relatively well protected. And of course, 2nd platoon is waiting in the enemy line of advance there too. At a guess Stoex has sent some men there because a) it is a moderately concealed route might flank my positions and c) there is always an outside chance that he'll find the two objectives in my rear there unguarded and bag some easy points (he won't).

I know from previous games that a Syrian BMP-based recon platoon is a 4 man HQ team, 2x 4 man squads and an ATGM squad, all packed in to 2 BMPs. Units I've seen so far with the IDs as see:

In the center:

Recon 2nd platoon HQ

Recon 1st squad

RPG team

In the rear:

Recon 2nd platoon HQ (yup, another one)

Recon 2nd squad

Recon platoon HQ

Advancing in the north:

Recon 1st squad.

What this suggests to me is that there are two recon companies, each of two platoons (and a total of 5 BMPs per company). One platoon left its vehicles in the north, now destroyed, and is advancing on foot through the scrub in the north. One platoon made a risky dash forward in vehicles through the trees and is now proceeding on foot to the main group of buildings. One platoon is securing the buildings further back to get the objectives and will either be a reserve or move up to defend the central group. No sign of the fourth platoon yet; possibly in vehicles and waiting to react to developments. 4 ATGMs are hiding somewhere waiting for vehicles to shoot at. There is also an AGS platoon or two, and some RPG teams. Also some BTRs, but they may be organic to the AGS or RPG teams.

My priority for now, aside from not losing vehicles to ATGMs, is to get enough eyes looking around that I can spot the AGS positions and do something about them, not losing too many men to AGS rounds in the mean time, and keeping enough javelins on-line to punish any BMP that wanders out of cover. It's a delicate balancing act.

[TheVulture]

Turn 4 Action

The turn start of badly, with a side helping of hubris. I'd thought that at 400+ metre range the AGS would be sufficiently inaccurate that the odds of being hit were relatively low. Which may well be true, but immediately as the turn starts, the squad on the outcrop that I said were expecting incoming AGS rounds do indeed get a burst, and it is right on target. Two men down, and another two slightly injured. Only the guy with the javelin is untouched. They quickly get out of there (as per orders) leaving the MMG behind.

More enemy units are seen moving around amongst the buildings, and the AGS overwatch enables them to cross the road in safety.

A company command squad is seen heading into building 'D' further back. There is definitely a full platoon (minus ATGM but plus RPG) in the front block of buildings now. Further squads are spotted in the northern advancing team, and the full platoon has been seen there too (HQ plus 2 squads).

The BMP that has been popping in and out of view is finally seen for long enough to get a shot off with a javelin, not least because the squad that had seen it before was the one that took the first AGS causalty and shifted position to safety, and apparently gained a clear LoS from their new location. The BMP is duly a burning wreck, with no bailing crew members seen this time. Sadly that squad is now out of javelins.

The 1st platoon squad that was advancing on the objective house in the center set off. They are unmolested for the most part, aside from one wildly inaccurate burst of AGS fire that rearranges the background.

So at the end of the turn, the score is looking very much like 4 objectives touched each, with the Syrians down 4 BMPs and (esimated) 4 crew, and the US down 3 infantry. But I'm sure I'll start losing Strykers to ATGMs once I start trying to use them.

Turn 5 Plan

I decide to abandon the outcrop. I was always wary of the dangers of cramming too many men on there and being vulnerable to BMP fire in particular, although BMPs are turning out not to be a practical threat (as hoped). But the AGS also pose enough of a threat to make the place largely useless as an overwatch position, so it will have to simply be a line of sight block instead (and maybe I can sneak the FO up there once Stoex sees my men have abandonded the position).

Rejuggling the plan therefore, 1st platoon are going to take up the advance towards the village, while 3rd platoon are going to head a bit more eastward than before and aim to go south of the village, using the hillside to create differential LoS so that they only engage the troops in the village. Throw in some Stryker support fire (assuming they live long enough) and I'd hope that would give me local fire superiority sufficient to render the enemy platoon ineffective before the next platoon can move up to support them.

In the north, I'm going to let the enemy platoon advance for now. My men are waiting for the, and in that area of the map there are plenty of spots where I can hide vehicles that can attack his men without being exposed to the rest of the map. So I want to get them far enough in that I can hit them hard, and try to ensure they don't get back out again.

Latest situation map:

Dismounted platoons are now shown separately from their Strykers. Yellow diamonds are destroyed vehicles. The red arrows show seen and anticipated movements, which hopefully out to be pretty intuitive. Dashed ovals show roughly were I expect the AGS/ATGM overwatch to be. I'd guess that the AGS which fired on the 1st platoon squad advancing on building 'E' is just north of building 'G', extrapolating the explosions past the squad position. The northern oval broadly covers the southern hills, while the southern oval covers the village and the narrow channel south of the village and the southern edge of the valley. As I said before, I don't think there are many spots that can covert the northwest of the valley well, and the NW hamlet is relatively secure for vehicles.

[Boche]

finally an update waiting for ages! things getting preety tense, GL!

[TheVulture]

Turn 5 Action

As the lead squad of 1st platoon approach objective E, they start taking fire both from hidden AGS squads, and the platoon scouting the northern slope of the valley. AGS rounds are also targetting the objective building itself in an area fire capacity, although with the AGS accuracy at these ranges rounds are going everywhere.

As I was expecting this, the team's orders are to get in and then straight back out to lurk behind the building. They do this with no casualties. They are still somewhat exposed to the northen platoon, but my 3rd platoon moving forwards is also in view now and soaking up their share of fire. And enemy fire is coming from between 300 and 500 metres, and so isn't terribly effective. A little more movement is seen in the central village, but nothing to suggest any more than the already known platoon being present.

The barrage of AGS rounds does finally give me a sound contact on their source.

This is indeed in one of the areas I was expecting, on the wooded hill in the Syrian rear. Whilst watching the northern Syrian platoon, I notice the distinctive sound of an AGS coming from up there too; it seems one of the grenade launcher squads has gone forwards with them. That northern platoon has had a change of plan (or was never on the plan I expected, more likely). Their westward movement has stopped, and they are shifting down towards the centre apparently to engage my two front platoons. I'm happy for them to do that, since I can engage them from the front with 1st and 3rd platoons and then hit them in the side with 2nd platoon in a little while.

The last second of the turn has an unpleasant surprise:

Okay, not really a surprise. An ATGM hits the lead styrker of 3rd platoon coming out to provide assorted support fires. Fortunately the slat armour does a decent job, and although the vehicle is immobilised with a wrecked engine, both crew are alive and weapon systems are still operational.

Turn 6 Plan

The immobilised Stryker, a Mk19 variant, will immediately pop smoke and put suppressive fire down in the area where the sound contact was made. Meanwhile the FO will move up on the outcrop in preparation for dropping some mortar rounds on that position, although an alternative plan is to use the mortars to cripple the northern Syrian advance and clear the way for a counter-push by 2nd platoon.

I'm increasingly coming to the opinion that avoiding the central valley floor is a good idea, since it is exposed to just about everywhere on the map. The rough idea taking shape in my head now is to use 1st platoon to block any Syrian advance there, while 2nd platoon pushes in the north, and 3rd platoon in the south. This will enable the enemy units in the valley to be hit from all sides whilst giving my men fairly good protectiong against the rest of the Syrian force, using the elevations and foliage to break LoS. The first job though is to get rid of that northern platoon.

For now, 1st platoon is still redeploying from the outcrop to the floor, and 3rd platoon is pushing somewhat eastward, but going slowly since they want to have enough men to return fire to nearby enemy. Vehicles are still staying out of the way, although 3rd platoons Strykers are possibly still exposed at least until the smoke develops.

I'm not keen to get into house to house fighting with the Syrians (thanks to RPGs and AGSs, which can be quite lethal indoors), and not terribly keen to sit in the bushes fighting them in buildings either due to the cover differential. I want my vehicles to take care of buildings and use my infantry to push towards the Syrian rear where they can detect the support units, and whack any unfortunate BMPs and BTRs that roll into view, and prevent the Syrian reserve moving up.

This will take a few more turns before things are set up though.

[Boche]

seems the final engangement is drawing closer

[daft]

TheVulture,

Excellent AAR, as always. What symbols are you using for your screenshots? Seems very handy.

[Mike Churchmoor]

TheVulture,

Excellent AAR, as always. What symbols are you using for your screenshots? Seems very handy.

Do you mean those operational symbols? I'd guess he is using Milsketch.

[TheVulture]

Yup, I'm using Milsketch, which is a great piece of software for adding useful stuff to screenshots and maps.

[daft]

Thank you both!

[TheVulture]

Turn 6 Action

Much less going on this turn. My men push slightly forwards. The Syrians more or less hold position and fire. Unfortunately the fact that I'm not actually in any cover begins to play its part, and I lose one man to rifle fire and another to an AGS burst. I'm now down 5 men.

The 1st platoon squad that is on the side of the outcrop has spotted a BMP lurking in the distant trees. They also start taking fire from one of the further back buildings, and respond in kind, although to no great effect for either side. The javelin gunner is just lining up his shot as the turn ends, at the BMP at the top of the picture.

The Forward Observer has made his way up on the outcrop and spotted the second BMP at the bottom. I don't think I have any clear shot at that one with any javelin-equipped units.

Turn 7 Plan

Since 1st and 3rd platoons are currently in crappy cover, drawing fire by virtue of moving, and suffering reduced spotting and firing also by virtue of moving, they are all simply going to hold still this turn and return fire at the enemy. I'd like to think that with superior weapons and body armour they can out-gun the northern platoon at least, as long as the AGS doesn't chew me up too quickly. To assist in the mission, a second Stryker behind the outcrop is going to reorient to the north, and both of them are going to edge forwards to hopefully bring some heavy weaponry to bear on the enemy.

At the same time, 2nd platoon are going to start their shift in that direction. I'm not going to leave them sitting around guarding the flank, and this is a short battle, so they need to get on with it. The general idea is in this diagram:

The infantry will move in to the buildings, and then advance into the flank of the enemy, through an area that is largely out of the view of the main Syrian force (although what odds that something nasty will spot them). The Strykers using the buildings as cover can provide some support, although lines of sight are poor from their low position. On the right you can see one of the 1st platoon Strykers supporting this too, with the second one (just mentioned) about to join it.

The other main development is that the FO has called in an 81mm mortar strike on the suspected AGS position. Hopefully it can catch an ATGM launcher too (assuming that there are infantry ATGMs around, which I am). After the medium/short mission, I will probably drop the rest of the rounds on the northern advance to clear my way there, and rely on other means to deal with the rear support weapons, but that really depends on how well or poorly my firepower works at clearing out the northern platoon. If vehicle / small arms fire is doing the job, I'll keep the mortar rounds.

[Mies]

Thanks, good read again!

[snake_eye]

Hi, TheVulture

I may be wrong, but I think that Stoex has already an overwatch (from the south hills) on the north hills, where you are sending 2nd platoon. You will probably be able to give some suppress fire from your reoriented stryker. But your platoon will take flank shots.

In other words, each advance he has made on the north and the south, going west has overwatch on the other (mutual fire support). The south hills have by the way, good FOV on the village and they can make a perfect interdiction fire on the troops trying to get in without being shot at, since they are sited, probably lower than the crest line (notr being seen, but from the village). You should have tried to reach that south hill crest.

Take the south hill, high ground and you get a strategic advantage upon your enemy (Stoex). Move the infantry, while pourring suppressing fire on the ridge line with the strykers. Don't move them in view, ATGM are just waiting for that.

If Stoex is fighting following the tactics that are usually learned, the chance that the fight goes that way are high.

For the rest your AAR is pretty good. Your actions and moves well explained. I won't miss for anything that AAR.

Keep on going that way

[TheVulture]

I might take some fire, but I'm not too concerned about it. The Syrian assets boil down to:

Recon platoons, not a serious threat at 500m

AGS-17 nasty, but fairly inaccurate at range

ATGM can be good against infantry, but very unlikely to be used against troops moving in the open

RPG-7 300m minimum, and in the open, again, not a serious threat

BMP-2 would be capable of doing real damage, but with at least 4 javelin launchers in sight, would probably die before getting off a second burst of shots

BTR not as lethal as the BMP (HMG instead of 30mm autocannon), but just as short-lived.

While the Syrians can do some damage, it is of the "losing one or two men" variety. There is nothing that the Syrians have, that I know of, that can really dominate my infantry at the ranges they will be at. And I have cover until in the bushes, where line of sight is really screwy.

[TheVulture]

Turn 7 Action

The javelin launch being lined up at the end of the last turn goes off as planned.

The target BMP appears to have its concentration elsewhere and doesn't notice the firing squad. Once again the javelin performs flawlessly and yet another BMP is removed from the battlefield. Things go downhill badly for that infantry team after that; their position comes under area fire from a BMP and possible an AGS too for good measure, probably in an attempt to suppress them before the javelin launch.

The first few rounds are a ways off target, but several of the later bursts land right amongst my men, and by the end of the turn three men are down and the last two are injured. BMP autocannon fire really is lethal to infantry.

In a similar vein, Stryker Mk19 40mm HE rounds are pretty lethal to infantry too.

One of 3rd platoon's Strykers puts lots of rounds downrange of the enemy HQ position which has been causing the infantry some problems and casualties (and I notice the sound of a sniper rifle whilst watching; yeah, Syrian HQs tend to run around with a sniper don't they. Probably why they are being much more effective at range that I expected). I don't see any causalties, but the whole area is pretty well saturated with HE rounds, so I imagine there must be some damage. The 1st platoon strykers maneouvering behind the outcrop to engage the northern Syrian force don't actually manage to see anyone for long enough to fire, but one does manage to drive through the other, leaving them intertwined in a cross formation. They also start to take what I think is AGS fire that appears to do no damage. As the turn ends, I think I pick up a sound contact on the AGS with the northern units, about 100m further back. And it seems as though the rest of the recon platoon have continued to advance while the HQ stopped to snipe at my men.

My 2nd platoon continue to maneouver to meet this enemy force with vehicle support, but they are probably 2-3 turns away from contact right now.

My FO demonstrates excellent timing with his calling in of the mortar strike. "Splash, over" is called in the last second of the turn, meaning the splash will hit within a few seconds of the start of the turn, and the Syrians therefore have to wait a full minute before they can respond, by which time fire for effect should have started. If the slpahs landed a few seconds earlier at the start of this turn, they'd be moving already, and the strike would probably miss them.

All assuming the targets are where I think they are.

In the center the enemy are seen advancing.

The platoon HQ and both squads are seen moving, with 1st squad covering the ground to the forward houses. None of my units are in position to engage right now, since the effects of the AGS and BMPs has caused a few problems. But then, my plan isn't to worry about those infantry for now; it is to eliminate the BMPs and support weapons, and clear the way for my vehicles to clean up his infantry.

Turn 8 Plan

Obviously the 1st platoon squads in the possible line of fire of the area firing are going to move if they can. 3rd platoon will continue to slowly advance one squad at a time in the south, getting to the cover of the hill to enable them to engage the village without being exposed to the HE chuckers. 2nd platoon will continue to set up their advance in the north. The Stryker area fire is cancelled to enable reponse to any new threats that turn up.

My main worry is that Stoex has seen my FO, and that incoming HE will cause them to miss the splash and so ruin my mortar strike.

The only specific change of plan I am making is that one squad of 2nd platoon in the north almost has LoS to the only currently visible BMP. They are going to shift forwards through the trees to the end of the ridge they are on and hopefully get a javelin shot off. In an ideal world, a javelin on that BMP and a succesful mortar strike against an AGS (and possibly an ATGM) will do a lot to strengthen my position in the center. In a real world, I'll be quite happy if one of those pays off. There is a very real chance that either or both could go wrong if the units are spotted.

I've pretty much committed to the long term plan I outlined earlier (if I can say 'long term' in a battle with 18 minutes left). 1st platoon will try and hold the center against enemy encroachment, while 3rd platoon advance along the southern hills. 2nd platoon plus vehicles will deal with the enemy recon platoon and then proceed along those hills on foot. The idea is to advance along the enemy's flanks to uncover their support positions. I don't intend to do much about the infantry crowding the center, but to leave them to the tender mercies of the Strykers oncethey are free to operate.

I'm beginning to think that the key to this battle is being willing to trade off vehicles to expose the things that hurt them. But before I can do that effectively, I need to have eyes far enough forwards to spot those enemy units when they fire. I've had one Styrker immoblised by an ATGM launch that I didn't see, and obviously losing vehicles like that is a pointless proposition. So the flanking advance will enable me to bring out a few vehicles, maybe lose one or two, and then pound the enemy units that threaten them until my vehicles can operate with impunity against the Syrian infantry from out of RPG range. The biggest threats to my plans are a) AGS-17s which might be able to prevent my infantry advancing, whilst doing real damage to them, and infantry that get suppressed by BMPs that no-one else can see. I can avoid by placing my units effectively, but the question is going to be whether I can absorb the losses whilst I advance, or whether it is going to be too costly.

[TheVulture]

Hi, TheVulture

You should have tried to reach that south hill crest.

Take the south hill, high ground and you get a strategic advantage upon your enemy

Forgot to add that I think you're right there. My original plan of pushing 3rd platoon into the village with 1st platoon as overwatch was a mistake. I'd have done better to send 3rd platoon straight east as fast as possible to try and take the ridge just south of the village. I'd noticed the ridge in the very long session studying the map at the start of the battle, but had only thought of it in terms of providing dead ground for my infantry and vehicles to maneouver early on, not in terms of taking it to make sure that it all staye as dead ground. Definitely a failure of analysis on my part.

[TheVulture]

Turn 8 Action

The first thing that happens is the fall of the mortar spotting round.

In the wrong damn place. Well, that's what spotting rounds are for. The second spotting round falls in a similar place, and fire for effect is called as the turn ends. That makes me slightly nervous; both spotting rounds fell in roughly the same area and a good 50+ meters away from where they should be. I've not got great hopes for this fire mission.

The 2nd platoon squad that were repositioning to hit that BMP are a little too slow. It has decided to reposition, and reverses out of sight before the javelin gunner can spot it. They do however see a BTR - possibly the one I saw back at the start of the fight - lurking near a field in the south east. Other enemy movement seen includes the advance of the rest of a recon platoon from the rear houses to the central block. The BTR is spared this turn by a target arc set to cover the BMP position, to prevent the squad exposing themselves by small arms fire against closer infantry.

My Strykers behind the outcrop finally spot the AGS that has been lobbing grenades at them, and the Mk19 returns fire. However the Strykers have used their secret transformer command and turned into a single amorphous Stryker X-treme!

This is a duel between an APC with 40mm HE vs infantry in open with 30mm HE - my money is on the Stryker. The AGS gunner is a pretty tough bunny though and survives his immediate vicinity being thoroughly pounded.

1st and 3rd platoons have a fairly quiet time of it. 1st platoon is still pinned by the outcrop and behind objective H and doesn't manage to obey any movement orders, but take no causalties; with the BMP getting out of the way the amount of incoming fire is greatly decreased. 3rd platoon continues to leapfrog into the cover of the hill into positions where they can still engage the infantry in the village.

2nd platoon's advance into the north has evidently been spotted. The lead squad, on their way to the next bit of cover, leave their house just in time as it spends the turn being hit by AGS fire.

With the northen Syrian platoon continuing to advance (judging by the occasional glimpses I catch of some of the men), we should be engaging them soon.

Turn 9 Plan

It's a bit of a 'continue with the plan' turn. 3rd platoon will continue to leapfrog, 2nd platoon will advance in the north prepared to meet the Syrian infantry soon, 1st platoon will hold position and try not to die. The Strykers behind the outcrop will engage the AGS in the north. 3rd platoon's Strykers in the south east which have been providing some area fire will get back in to hiding, since Stoex has had time to shift some ATGMs in response to them by now. The immobilised Styrker there will of course stay where it is, but will shoot up an enemy-occupied building with its MG. The only significant involvement by me is that the 2nd platoon squad that missed their chance to bag a BMP last turn will get the BTR instead this turn, and then quickly move back in to cover to break LoS to prevent any return fire on their position (particularly area fire on that position at the start of the following turn).

While my mortars might be off target, I didn't actually hit the AGS gunner and didn't get the BMP, I'm actually cautiously pleased with the results of this turn. I think things are setting up quite nicely for me... (so presumably I'm due for a reality check pretty soon). Beating the enemy might not be easy, but I have the initiative, and it is hard to see anything that Stoex can do to force the issue in his favour.